Nader Hegaz – Mtv
Lebanon is experiencing a very sensitive phase as the process of direct negotiations with Israel progresses, especially after the announcement of a meeting that will launch a joint security track at the Pentagon on the 29th of this month.
Several questions are raised about the mechanism, the form of possible coordination, and the nature of the operations that will be carried out, in light of a proposal that is being researched, which is based on the formation of a special division or special brigade in the Lebanese army entrusted with the task of disarming Hezbollah.
Military expert, retired Brigadier General Marcel Baloukji, indicated in an interview with MTV website, that a special team may be formed under American supervision and Lebanese elements, and its connection to the operations room will be in the “mechanics” and not the army leadership, in order to implement Resolution 1701 by the army through special committees.
Balukji believes that this solution is ideal as an initial stage, during which the army will be freed from the decision and discretion of the political authority, as the mechanism will be controlled by American military observers only, not the French or UNIFIL. He did not rule out later seeking international or Arab forces, especially Jordanian, Egyptian and Saudi forces.
While he stresses that the Lebanese army is capable and qualified, he points out that the problem is the political decision that is not reflected in its implementation.
Balukji explains that this proposal has practical basis in the Lebanese Army. At the Hamat military base, military teams such as the Commando Regiment and others are training, under American and British supervision and arming, where American and British teams train members of the Lebanese Army.
The task entrusted to this division, if it is formed, will place a heavy burden on the scene, for fear of the internal confrontation with Hezbollah erupting and exposing stability and civil peace to destabilization.
The experience of the civil war, which led to the division of the army and its dispersal between the conflicting forces, comes back from memory. The best example of that era remains the 4th Brigade, which has been dissolved since 1984 and has not been reconstituted to this day.
The “Fourth Infantry Brigade” in the army was officially disbanded in March 1984 after it suffered a military collapse and dispersal in September 1983 during the battles of the “Jabal War” in the Western Shihar region, in the midst of the sharp sectarian and political divisions that the country witnessed.
The split of the 43rd Battalion in the 4th Brigade at the time, led by Captain Walid Sukariya, who was later elected as a deputy in the “Loyalty to the Resistance” bloc, had a major impact on the course of the battle and changed many of the balances. He played the most prominent role in preparing for the February 6 uprising and overthrowing the May 17 agreement.
Will the experience of the Fourth Brigade be repeated if the confrontation occurs?
Brigadier General Baloukji says: “This brigade had a sectarian symbol and represented a dark phase in the history of the Lebanese Army, and therefore it was not re-formed,” ruling out the repetition of this experience today, considering that “there is no fear of repeating the experience, because at that time there was the National Movement and the Palestinian forces, and the division was great in the country. Whereas Hezbollah today cannot put pressure on the army, and there is a wide segment of Shiites who support the army, especially from the environment of the Amal Movement.”
Israel was able to separate the political and security tracks, thus separating the search for peace from confronting Hezbollah, and separating Lebanon and “the party” while stipulating disarmament as an entry point for discussing all other files. Will Lebanon be able to comply? What are the consequences when implementation begins?
